Cody Larson

[jackdaniel]

Re: Cody Larson

Donovan seemed to say much nicer things once Larson left the team, then he did when taking him off the scholarship. I'm paraphrasing but it was like he has made great strides off the court, and I hope he continues to off the court as well. I think the scholarship being pulled had more to do with on the court, then off the court. If he was averaging 25 minutes a game he would still be on scholarship. Many times coaches use power plays to get guys to leave, I'm sure he had reason to pull his scholarship because of his past. So unless someone has direct information on a specific act that lead for Donovan to pull his scholarship, I'm just going to believe its because he didn't think he deserved one on the court.

I was secretly thinking this also.A lot of coaches will use anything they can as an excuse to try and free up a scholarship by dumping an unproductive player, who they think will remain unproductive for the length of their stay.I'm glad someone said it because that's what I was thinking also.

[jackmd]

Re: Cody Larson

I'll use the above comment from Nidaros as a starting off point: If you're talking about apples, you may have a point. If you're talking about people, you don't have a point. You're comparing apples to, well...people.

Seems to me I recall someone writing on this board that they quit drinking years ago because they had a problem with drinking. People change. Young people in particular change. More than ninety-nine percent of young people turn out to be fine citizens even though many made mistakes in their youth.

Shouldn't this thread just go away? Unless somebody has credible proof Larson may play at SDSU, what remains to be discussed?

I vote for go away. I was out of line with some comments, I own up to them. I like the players we have at SDSU. Its not necessary for me to share my opinion about a situation I only know second hand information about (media).

[bigticket1]

Re: Cody Larson

Donovan seemed to say much nicer things once Larson left the team, then he did when taking him off the scholarship. I'm paraphrasing but it was like he has made great strides off the court, and I hope he continues to off the court as well. I think the scholarship being pulled had more to do with on the court, then off the court. If he was averaging 25 minutes a game he would still be on scholarship. Many times coaches use power plays to get guys to leave, I'm sure he had reason to pull his scholarship because of his past. So unless someone has direct information on a specific act that lead for Donovan to pull his scholarship, I'm just going to believe its because he didn't think he deserved one on the court.

I think that makes a lot of sense. With most coaches,the amount of headaches that coaches are willing to put up with on a player is directly proportional to what that player can contribute on the court/field. If Trevor Mbakwe was an end of the bench type player,he never would have gotten as many second (and third,and fourth) chances as he has received.

[Chains]

Re: Cody Larson

Let's not fool ourselves. There is not a school in the Dakota's including SDSU that would not welcome Cody Larsen with open arms. I hope the yound man wakes up because he has huge opportunities and it would be a shame to waste them. If Cody would chose USD and I have no reasons to believe that would happen the Jacks fans would be critical of him. If Cody would by chance end up at SDSU we would rave over his abilities. I would personally love to see him play at SDSU if that indeed is what he wants! Bottom line - he is a local kid and I wish him the best.

GBGBGJ

I was secretly thinking this also.A lot of coaches will use anything they can as an excuse to try and free up a scholarship by dumping an unproductive player, who they think will remain unproductive for the length of their stay.I'm glad someone said it because that's what I was thinking also.

[jack power]

Re: Cody Larson

Let's not fool ourselves. There is not a school in the Dakota's including SDSU that would not welcome Cody Larsen with open arms. I hope the yound man wakes up because he has huge opportunities and it would be a shame to waste them. If Cody would chose USD and I have no reasons to believe that would happen the Jacks fans would be critical of him. If Cody would by chance end up at SDSU we would rave over his abilities. I would personally love to see him play at SDSU if that indeed is what he wants! Bottom line - he is a local kid and I wish him the best.

GBGBGJ

Agree with all of that. If he would come to SDSU, his would have a clean slate in my eyes.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Cody Larson

2) That being said there are two things I can't stand in this world. People that don't respect other people's cultures, and the Dutch.

You just crossed a line, mister.

In all seriousness, I wish Cody the best.

IMO, it is actually encouraging to see Mr. Seville stick up for Cody despite being away from the Schoolers for 2 years. There are plenty of summer coaches who never talk to their kids again, much less if things don't work out as expected. If Cody was my kid, I would appreciate someone else in his corner when he is publicly going through the ringer.

If he wants to come to SDSU and the coaching staff wants him to come to SDSU, I'm all for it. If not, I hope he finds a place where all the pieces fit together.

[Cadsev]

Re: Cody Larson

It's easy to come on a public internet message board and post remarks under an assumed name where no one knows your identity. I choose to not hide my identity and therefore stick to supporting athletes rather than ripping them down. I wouldn't stoop to the levels of the postings of JackMD who admitted knowing little about Cody Larson's life other than what he's read in the paper yet then rips not only Cody but his father. The father is also the dad of a current SDSU volleyball player and a top targeted SDSU women's basketball recruit. No amount of excuses or apology will change what has been done. Nidaros and Joeboo also get their limited knowledge from the media and form opinions from the Argus Leader reports. I guess from time to time Joeboo asks the neighbor who is friends of a friend whos neighbor knows someone who knows a person in another town who has knowledge of situations. A few weeks ago the Argus raced to post a story online and in print that only included the quotes from Coach Donovan regarding the decision to pull Cody's scholarship last April. Six months passed before the Argus "broke" the story to SD. They only included quotes from Coach Donovan that hinted at the reason for pulling the scholarship. Their typical negative slant was rampant throughout the article and for some odd reason they omitted some quotes from Billy Donovan from present time. Joeboo if you really cared about the situation before you typed you'd do the reasearch of other media outlets and realize that Coach Donovan has priased Cody Larson prior to last Friday's press release. Some examples include quotes from other online articles and newspapers whose agenda is not to rip down SD athletes. Here are Billy Donovan quotes from Media Day that the Argus didn't print....you can ask Terry V why but he'll simply say that he didn't write the article....the reason why is that negative in the eyes of Stu Whitney sells more than positive and Stu took liberties in the article that no other paper who reported on the subject took:

“I’m as proud of Cody today and maybe more so than I ever have been with him being in our program. Really I’ve seen a total change in him from the time the season ended last year to now up to this point in time,” he said. “I think he can be a productive player for us in the future. But, I also felt like it was important for him to have some skin in the game where he was going to take some responsibility for his future, his career and what he wants to be.

“I think for Cody, it would’ve been very easy to just move to another school. He’s not a guy that played a lot of minutes. He wasn’t a guy that we relied on a lot last year. But I was more consumed by trying to help him as a kid for later on in life, regardless of where basketball takes him. I think it would have been easy for Cody just to pick up and leave and to go somewhere else where maybe he would get more playing time, if he wanted to go somewhere to play.

“I give him credit for wanting to see this thing through. He’s taking care of his responsibilities and doing all the things we asked him to do. I think he’s been a totally different person at this point in time. None of us are perfect. I think we all make mistakes and do things that we learn from and I think he’s learned some valuable lessons, and I think he’s better off for it and I think he’s going to benefit down the road.”

JackMD, a word of advice, if you don't know facts, if you don't have the story and you only rely on the Argus please don't post on this site or any other site. Again, your appology is shallow and if you are an MD, physician whatever, you have zero character.

I will continue to support athletes in this state and get the facts prior to passing judgement. Cody's issues have been well documented in the past. I don't condone his negative actions but do support him in good and bad times. The Argus races to be the first to break any news surrounding his life. Cody certainly isn't the first athlete to walk away from the game. He made a decision to quit the Florida team because he wasn't enjoying basketball and feared that he'd take a step back if he continued to play. I am not trying to convince anyone or rally the troops to support him or his decison but rather stop the unwarrented bashing of the kid for past transgressions. He's been punished and fullfilled what was required of him. Those that want to continue to bash him will do so because they are shallow and lead a miserable life. My guess is that they too have had issues as well. Cody is one of two SD athletes to earn an SEC basketball scholarship. He doesn't have to feal ashamed or feel like he failed. He certainly could have continued with the team and most likely earned back his scholarship. Maybe some day he'll play again, transfer to a new school and start over again. If so I wish him well and would support that decision. I'm not ashamed to call him my friend and support him despite anything that he's done in the past. I look forward to his future and feel sorry for those of you that relish the perceived failures of others. That's on you not Cody Larson.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Cody Larson

It's easy to come on a public internet message board and post remarks under an assumed name where no one knows your identity. I choose to not hide my identity and therefore stick to supporting athletes rather than ripping them down. I wouldn't stoop to the levels of the postings of JackMD who admitted knowing little about Cody Larson's life other than what he's read in the paper yet then rips not only Cody but his father. The father is also the dad of a current SDSU volleyball player and a top targeted SDSU women's basketball recruit. No amount of excuses or apology will change what has been done. Nidaros and Joeboo also get their limited knowledge from the media and form opinions from the Argus Leader reports. I guess from time to time Joeboo asks the neighbor who is friends of a friend whos neighbor knows someone who knows a person in another town who has knowledge of situations. A few weeks ago the Argus raced to post a story online and in print that only included the quotes from Coach Donovan regarding the decision to pull Cody's scholarship last April. Six months passed before the Argus "broke" the story to SD. They only included quotes from Coach Donovan that hinted at the reason for pulling the scholarship. Their typical negative slant was rampant throughout the article and for some odd reason they omitted some quotes from Billy Donovan from present time. Joeboo if you really cared about the situation before you typed you'd do the reasearch of other media outlets and realize that Coach Donovan has priased Cody Larson prior to last Friday's press release. Some examples include quotes from other online articles and newspapers whose agenda is not to rip down SD athletes. Here are Billy Donovan quotes from Media Day that the Argus didn't print....you can ask Terry V why but he'll simply say that he didn't write the article....the reason why is that negative in the eyes of Stu Whitney sells more than positive and Stu took liberties in the article that no other paper who reported on the subject took:

“I’m as proud of Cody today and maybe more so than I ever have been with him being in our program. Really I’ve seen a total change in him from the time the season ended last year to now up to this point in time,” he said. “I think he can be a productive player for us in the future. But, I also felt like it was important for him to have some skin in the game where he was going to take some responsibility for his future, his career and what he wants to be.

“I think for Cody, it would’ve been very easy to just move to another school. He’s not a guy that played a lot of minutes. He wasn’t a guy that we relied on a lot last year. But I was more consumed by trying to help him as a kid for later on in life, regardless of where basketball takes him. I think it would have been easy for Cody just to pick up and leave and to go somewhere else where maybe he would get more playing time, if he wanted to go somewhere to play.

“I give him credit for wanting to see this thing through. He’s taking care of his responsibilities and doing all the things we asked him to do. I think he’s been a totally different person at this point in time. None of us are perfect. I think we all make mistakes and do things that we learn from and I think he’s learned some valuable lessons, and I think he’s better off for it and I think he’s going to benefit down the road.”

JackMD, a word of advice, if you don't know facts, if you don't have the story and you only rely on the Argus please don't post on this site or any other site. Again, your appology is shallow and if you are an MD, physician whatever, you have zero character.

I will continue to support athletes in this state and get the facts prior to passing judgement. Cody's issues have been well documented in the past. I don't condone his negative actions but do support him in good and bad times. The Argus races to be the first to break any news surrounding his life. Cody certainly isn't the first athlete to walk away from the game. He made a decision to quit the Florida team because he wasn't enjoying basketball and feared that he'd take a step back if he continued to play. I am not trying to convince anyone or rally the troops to support him or his decison but rather stop the unwarrented bashing of the kid for past transgressions. He's been punished and fullfilled what was required of him. Those that want to continue to bash him will do so because they are shallow and lead a miserable life. My guess is that they too have had issues as well. Cody is one of two SD athletes to earn an SEC basketball scholarship. He doesn't have to feal ashamed or feel like he failed. He certainly could have continued with the team and most likely earned back his scholarship. Maybe some day he'll play again, transfer to a new school and start over again. If so I wish him well and would support that decision. I'm not ashamed to call him my friend and support him despite anything that he's done in the past. I look forward to his future and feel sorry for those of you that relish the perceived failures of others. That's on you not Cody Larson.

Good post.

It doesn't surprise me to learn facts were omitted from Stu's article. Stu's views change about as often as South Dakota weather, and he often makes the "facts" fit his pre-determined narrative. I feel a little sheepish for my earlier comments comparing Cody to past SDSU problem players without knowing more details.

I think even you would have to admit Cody has showed poor judgement at times. With that being said, the only difference between him and other 19(?) year olds in that regard is that his lapses are known by the public.

I (or JackMD and JoeBoo) don't know enough about the situation to make any sort of judgement. Then again, this is DI athletics and knee-jerk fans on message boards sort of come with the territory, don't you think? If Cody or his family or any other athlete read message boards, I hope they laugh.

For what its worth, I meant what I said earlier about you sticking with Cody. It is impressive to me that you still keep in touch and care about him as a person and not just a basketball player. Keep it up, and keep calling out posters who leap to conclusions without knowing the whole story.

With all that being said, if Cody can keep his name out of the news for everything except basketball, I hope he comes to SDSU. If not, I would just as soon he goes somewhere else or focuses on school and personal life. As a sports fan, is that unreasonable?

[Nidaros]

Re: Cody Larson

Nidaros and Joeboo also get their limited knowledge from the media and form opinions from the Argus Leader reports.

Give me your cell phone number and I will call you next time I need limited knowledge. Whats wrong with relying on the Argus or do you have a monopoly on truth?

[witness]

Re: Cody Larson

Cadsev-
I get what you are trying to say, and I have been on record saying I would go after Larson. I'm not here to bash Larson, as I think he is very talented. If might have been only speculation, but I heard rumors about Larson even before he got in trouble with the prescription pills. Having said that we all made mistakes as young adults, some just didn't get in trouble or were as highly publicized but turned into alright adults.

Remember when Watertown lost some very good players in 2008? That was highly publicized and some upset people, but what was lost is that nobody was arrested nor did they get in trouble with the law. Add in an arrest, when you are a well-known SD athlete, things will get blown up.

I think that Larson might have needed a new environment and will succeed somewhere else. I hope Larson decides to come to SDSU and I would accept him with open arms, and would have a clean slate with me. When you are a well-known local athlete, "You are alone for the ride, and live vicariously through another's eyes."

[Jacks#1Fan]

Re: Cody Larson

Cadsev...I don't know you, but have always appreciated your posts and the perspective you have. Saying that, I don't think JackMD's apology was shallow, just that you view it that way because you are 100% invested in this situation. That's OK with me. I haven't weighed in on this thread, but will do it briefly:

1. If Coach Nagy were to offer (and bring in) Cody Larson to our team...I would be A-OK with that, because I am fully confident in Scott and in our coaching staff making the right decision.
2. I think it might be the best thing that has happened in Cody's life, if he was given a chance to be on this team. We have just an outstanding team of young individuals on this team, and believe he would be given an environment that would make transformation possible for him.
3. If he did come to SDSU, I'm confident that he would be on a short leash...but also given a chance to prove he could handle that.
4. If he doesn't come here, and/or doesn't go elsewhere to play basketball, I wish him and his family the best.

[JackJD]

Re: Cody Larson

...
Remember when Watertown lost some very good players in 2008? That was highly publicized and some upset people, but what was lost is that nobody was arrested nor did they get in trouble with the law....

Clarification: Matters were handled through the juvenile-court system.

[witness]

Re: Cody Larson

Clarification: Matters were handled through the juvenile-court system.

I meant as in they didn't get in trouble because they got arrested.

[JackJD]

Re: Cody Larson

In post #29 on this thread I asked people to avoid the personal attacks.

I refer everyone to Jacks#1Fan's comments in post #56. I too agree that JackMD meant what he said when he apologized and I think Cadsev was over the line is his comments... So, everyone's going over the line. Must be the political season. I know enough about JackMD to state that I'd want him in my corner any day and while I am not personally acquainted with Cadsev, I know others who are and I respect and value highly his loyalty to Larson.

I think the nail is even with the board on this thread and additional pounding is ineffective. This thread is therefore closed. Everybody pick up around them and last one out make sure the door is latched.

If someone comes across some news that is reasonably tied to reality (as reality is defined by message boards participants), feel free to start another thread.


Post script: Is bashing Stu okay? I guess so...I think he likes it.